1. Technical Field
The present invention relates in general to the field of program code conversion. In particular, the invention relates to a method and apparatus for verifying that program code conversion is performed correctly.
2. Description of Related Art
In the field of computer processing, a subject program is written to execute on a subject computer processor. Often it is necessary to perform program code conversion in order to convert the subject program into a different form. Firstly, it is sometimes desired to perform program code conversion in order to optimise execution of the subject program, such as by removing unnecessary instructions or by simplifying an instruction sequence. Secondly, it is sometimes desired to run the subject program on a target processor that is not compatible with the subject program. In either case, an emulator is used to perform the program code conversion, such that a converted program is produced in the desired different form.
There exists a strong desire to verify that the program code conversion is performed correctly. In particular, it is desired to verify that an outcome of running the converted program is equivalent to an outcome of running the original subject program. Ideally, it is desired to demonstrate bitwise compatibility between the subject program and the converted program.